Acoustic well logging is disclosed in Moser et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,190,388. An acoustic well logging tool is lowered into a fluid filled borehole. The tool has a transducer for producing acoustic energy that propagates through the borehole fluid and into the formation. Receiving transducers on the tool receive the acoustic energy. Electrical signals containing information about the received acoustic energy are transmitted to the surface by way of a cable.
My U.S. Pat. No. 4,553,226 discloses systems, apparatus and methods for measuring while drilling. Various downhole parameters, such as well bore inclination, temperature, pressure and so on can be measured and transmitted to the surface while drilling. The transmission media is the drilling fluid in the borehole. The downhole tool produces pressure pulses in the drilling fluid, which pulses are received by sensors on the surface.
There are also prior art systems that use acoustic energy sources located downhole and receiving sensors, such as geophones, located on the surface some distance away from the borehole. The surface geophones receive the acoustic energy after it propagates from the downhole tool through all of the formations leading up to the surface. The geophones are likely connected to processing and storage systems on the surface by cables.